Reading Divergent
by Waffling-Mad
Summary: I didn't think there was enough of these, so I wrote my own. The title basically explains all. The Divergent characters are reading the Divergent books! This will be my only disclaimer, so pay attention! I do not and will never own the Divergent trilogy. ATTENTION this story is up for adoption. Don't worry if no one adopts it I'll continue it, but I have a few ideas for new stories
1. Chapter 1

The characters of Divergent, Peter, Molly, Drew, Four, Tris, Christina, Will, Al, Tori, Uriah, Zeke, Shauna, Marlene, Lynn, Robert, Susan, Lauren, Eric, Caleb, Marcus, Andrew Prior, Natalie Prior, and Max, were all minding their own business, the initiates and trainers doing their workouts or whatever the fuck they were doing that day, the leaders doing legal stuff and whatever, the abnegation helping the factionless, y'know, shit like that, until something happened. No there wasn't any bright flash of light or anything weird like that, something just kind of, happened. There was a loud pop and then they were all in a large pile on an unfamiliar floor.

They all stood up slowly, only the three abnegation and Tris not grumbling and cursing whoever made them fall. Tris was actually quite grateful. They were doing fighting that day and she was not looking forward to seeing who she had to get beat up by. When everyone was standing, a relatively short girl walked through one of the walls and raised an eyebrow at them. She was wearing a black and purple T-shirt with MY Chemical Romance written on the front in acid green, a dark pair of jeans, and no shoes. She had a bag on her back with a book tied to the side of it, labeled Divergent.

"Who crapped in your cornflakes?" she asks jokingly. Eric glares at her and she huffs.

"Fine, you don't wanna joke? Okay. We'll just get on with this torturous experience." She growls. A few couches appear around the characters and they choose their favorite people to sit with. The abnegation and Caleb all sit on one couch, Eric sits with Peter, Molly, Drew, and Max on a dark orange and red couch that was designed to look like it was on fire, Four sits with the transfer initiates on a couch of dulled natural colors, like dark green, deep blue, and gray, which was covered in all the faction symbols, the dauntless born, initiate or otherwise, all sit on the largest couch which is black and blue with the dauntless symbol on absolutely every square inch of it, and the strange girl sits on a black arm chair with a different symbol no one had ever seen.

"Attention, everyone. You may call me Hatter, as that is my name. I have gathered you all here to read a book called- well, you don't need to know what it's called, but it's about our dear Tris Prior and her journey through Dauntless initiation." The girl narrows her eyes at the taunts and snickers from the flaming couch.

"She'll probably only last another day. This won't take long." Peter chuckles maliciously.

"Four, why don't you read first, hmm?" the girl throws a book at Four, aiming for his head, but he catches it at the last moment. He opens it to the first page and everyone settles in for a long night. Or was it day? No one really knew.

"**There is one mirror in my house. It is behind a sliding panel in the hallway upstairs. Our faction allows me to stand in front of it on the second day of every third month, the day my mother cuts my hair."**

Christina makes a sound of disapproval and Four glances at her before resuming where he left off.

"**I sit on the stool and my mother stands behind me with the scissors, trimming. The strands fall on the floor in a dull, blond ring."**

Four can't help but think Tris's hair is anything but dull, though he would probably never say that aloud. He shakes his head and continues reading.

"**When she finishes, she pulls my hair away from my face and twists it into a knot. I note how calm she looks and how focused she is. She is well-practiced in the art of losing herself. I can't say the same of myself."**

"Well I wouldn't say that, but thank you, Beatrice." Natalie says modestly.

"**I sneak a look at my reflection when she isn't paying attention—not for the sake of vanity, but out of curiosity. A lot can happen to a person's appearance in three months. In my reflection, I see a narrow face, wide, round eyes, and a long, thin nose—I still look like a little girl, though sometime in the last few months I turned sixteen. The other factions celebrate birthdays, but we don't. It would be self-indulgent."**

Eye rolls, scoffs, and snorts are heard throughout the room, mostly frrm those who didn't come from abnegation, but also Caleb, surprisingly.

"One thing I won't miss about our old faction." Caleb says to Tris, not bothering to keep his voice down at all. Tris nods hesitantly. She didn't like down-talking her old faction. She sometimes still wished she could've been selfless enough to choose her family over the faction she actually belonged in.

""**There," she says when she pins the knot in place. Her eyes catch mine in the mirror. It is too late to look away, but instead of scolding me, she smiles at our reflection. I frown a little. Why doesn't she reprimand me for staring at myself?**

"**So today is the day," she says.**

"**Yes," I reply.**

"**Are you nervous?" I stare into my own eyes for a moment. Today is the day of the aptitude test that will show me which of the five factions I belong in. And tomorrow, at the Choosing Ceremony, I will decide on a faction; I will decide the rest of my life; I will decide to stay with my family or abandon them.**

"**No," I say. "The tests don't have to change our choices."**

"But they do." Four mutters to himself before starting up again, ready to finish the chapter.

""**Right." She smiles. "Let's go eat breakfast."**

"**Thank you. For cutting my hair." She kisses my cheek and slides the panel over the mirror. I think my mother could be beautiful, in a different world. Her body is thin beneath the gray robe. She has high cheekbones and long eyelashes, and when she lets her hair down at night, it hangs in waves over her shoulders. But she must hide that beauty in Abnegation.**

**We walk together to the kitchen. On these mornings when my brother makes breakfast, and my father's hand skims my hair as he reads the newspaper, and my mother hums as she clears the table— it is on these mornings that I feel guiltiest for wanting to leave them."**

A few people frown, but everyone stays mostly quiet.

"If you love me for what you see, only your eyes would be in love with me. If you love me for what you've heard, then you would love me for my words. If you love my heart and mind, then you would love me, for all that I am, but if you don't love my every flaw, then you mustn't love me—not at all." Hatter quotes smoothly, her eyes supporting her feelings that family should always stick together. Four decides now is the perfect time to interrupt anymore interruptions, if that makes sense.

"There's a line break here." He begins reading before anyone can say anything.

**The bus stinks of exhaust. Every time it hits a patch of uneven pavement, it jostles me from side to side, even though I'm gripping the seat to keep myself still. My older brother, Caleb, stands in the aisle, holding a railing above his head to keep himself steady. We don't look alike. He has my father's dark hair and hooked nose and my mother's green eyes and dimpled cheeks. When he was younger, that collection of features looked strange,"**

"Gee thanks sis, I feel really pretty now." Caleb says sarcastically. Tris can't help but laugh and Four wants to join in but settles for just smiling into the book.

"**But now it suits him. If he wasn't Abnegation, I'm sure the girls at school would stare at him. He also inherited my mother's talent for selflessness. He gave his seat to a surly Candor man on the bus without a second thought. The Candor man wears a black suit with a white tie—Candor standard uniform. Their faction values honesty and sees the truth as black and white, so that is what they wear."**

"Yeah, we know that, Stiff." Peter taunts from his couch. Tris rolls her eyes.

"That insult is getting old. Maybe you should find some new material. Here, I'll show you. Hey Eric! Is that your face or a magnet!?"

Most people chuckle but are stopped by Eric and Peter's glares. Andrew looks at his daughter in disappointment though he knows he can't reprimand her. She isn't in his faction anymore.

**The gaps between the buildings narrow and the roads are smoother as we near the heart of the city. The building that was once called the Sears Tower—we call it the Hub—emerges from the fog, a black pillar in the skyline. The bus passes under the elevated tracks. I have never been on a train, though they never stop running and there are tracks everywhere. Only the Dauntless ride them. Five years ago, volunteer construction workers from Abnegation repaved some of the roads. They started in the middle of the city and worked their way outward until they ran out of materials. The roads where I live are still cracked and patchy, and it's not safe to drive on them. We don't have a car anyway. Caleb's expression is placid as the bus sways and jolts on the road. The gray robe falls from his arm as he clutches a pole for balance. I can tell by the constant shift of his eyes that he is watching the people around us—striving to see only them and to forget himself. Candor values honesty, but our faction, Abnegation, values selflessness.**

"A bit too much if you ask me." Christina mumbles from her place between Tris and Will.

"**The bus stops in front of the school and I get up, scooting past the Candor man. I grab Caleb's arm as I stumble over the man's shoes. My slacks are too long, and I've never been that graceful."**

"Oh yeah, I know all about you and your lack of grace. Knocked both her front teeth out by tripping on air once. She was lucky they were her baby teeth." Caleb chuckles from his seat closest to Tris, able to pinch her cheeks mockingly despite being on a different couch. Tris blushes and glares at him, though she knows he's joking.

"**The Upper Levels building is the oldest of the three schools in the city: Lower Levels, Mid-Levels, and Upper Levels. Like all the other buildings around it, it is made of glass and steel. In front of it is a large metal sculpture that the Dauntless climb after school, daring each other to go higher and higher. Last year I watched one of them fall and break her leg. I was the one who ran to get the nurse."**

"That was you? Thanks!" Marlene laughs, leaning into Uriah. His eyes widen and he slowly wraps an arm around her. Tris has to hold back an 'aww!' At how adorable it is, as do the other women in the room. Four rolls his eyes, slightly jealous that Uriah and Marlene could show their affection openly and he couldn't even ask if Tris liked him back. Wait a second! When did he decide that he liked Tris? Slowly he realizes everyone is staring at him expectantly and he turns back to the book.

""**Aptitude tests today," I say. Caleb is not quite a year older than I am, so we are in the same year at school. He nods as we pass through the front doors. My muscles tighten the second we walk in. The atmosphere feels hungry, like every sixteen-year-old is trying to devour as much as he can get of this last day. It is likely that we will not walk these halls again after the Choosing Ceremony—once we choose, our new factions will be responsible for finishing our education. Our classes are cut in half today, so we will attend all of them before the aptitude tests, which take place after lunch. My heart rate is already elevated.**

"**You aren't at all worried about what they'll tell you?" I ask Caleb.**

**We pause at the split in the hallway where he will go one way, toward Advanced Math, and I will go the other, toward Faction History. He raises an eyebrow at me. "Are you?"**

**I could tell him I've been worried for weeks about what the aptitude test will tell me—Abnegation, Candor, Erudite, Amity, or Dauntless? Instead I smile and say, "Not really." He smiles back.**

"**Well…have a good day.""**

"Pfft yeah right." Tris murmurs to herself.

"**I walk toward Faction History, chewing on my lower lip. He never answered my question. The hallways are cramped, though the light coming through the windows creates the illusion of space; they are one of the only places where the factions mix, at our age. Today the crowd has a new kind of energy, a last day mania. A girl with long curly hair shouts "Hey!" next to my ear, waving at a distant friend. A jacket sleeve smacks me on the cheek. Then an Erudite boy in a blue sweater shoves me. I lose my balance and fall hard on the ground.**

"**Out of my way, Stiff," he snaps, and continues down the hallway. My cheeks warm. I get up and dust myself off. A few people stopped when I fell, but none of them offered to help me. Their eyes follow me to the edge of the hallway. This sort of thing has been happening to others in my faction for months now—the Erudite have been releasing antagonistic reports about Abnegation, and it has begun to affect the way we relate at school. The gray clothes, the plain hairstyle, and the unassuming demeanor of my faction are supposed to make it easier for me to forget myself, and easier for everyone else to forget me too. But now they make me a target."**

"It really is sad how our factions can't just get along peacefully." Robert comments. Most people jump, they had forgotten he was here, along with his sister and a lot of other people actually. Wait a minute, where is everyone?

"I sent some people back. Susan doesn't need to hear all of it, she'll be back in a little while, and neither does Marcus, Eric, Max or Drew and Molly. Most of them will come back after a while, but Drew and Molly will most likely not." Hatter says from her chair after sensing the confusion. Four nods and continues reading.

"**I pause by a window in the E Wing and wait for the Dauntless to arrive. I do this every morning. At exactly 7:25, the Dauntless prove their bravery by jumping from a moving train. My father calls the Dauntless "hellions." They are pierced, tattooed, and black-clothed. Their primary purpose is to guard the fence that surrounds our city. From what, I don't know. They should perplex me. I should wonder what courage—which is the virtue they most value—has to do with a metal ring through your nostril. Instead my eyes cling to them wherever they go."**

"Why thank you." Uriah says arrogantly, wiggling his eyebrows. Tris both blushes and laughs at the same time.

"I don't know whether to feel amused or embarrassed." She chuckles. Uriah shrugs.

"I don't know what I'd be either. Probably the latter." He says after a moment. Four gives them a look and they quiet down as he finds his place again.

"**The train whistle blares, the sound resonating in my chest. The light fixed to the front of the train clicks on and off as the train hurtles past the school, squealing on iron rails. And as the last few cars pass, a mass exodus of young men and women in dark clothing hurl themselves from the moving cars, some dropping and rolling, others stumbling a few steps before regaining their balance. One of the boys wraps his arm around a girl's shoulders, laughing. Watching them is a foolish practice. I turn away from the window and press through the crowd to the Faction History classroom."**

"That's the end of the chapter." Four says after a moment of silence. Christina perks up.

"Me next!" she squeals, snatching the book form him and flipping to the right page.


	2. Chapter 2

**The tests begin after lunch. We sit at the long tables in the cafeteria, and the test administrators call ten names at a time, one for each testing room. I sit next to Caleb and across from our neighbor Susan. Susan's father travels throughout the city for his job, so he has a car and drives her to and from school every day. He offered to drive us, too, but as Caleb says, we prefer to leave later and would not want to inconvenience him. Of course not.**

Christina puts so much sarcasm and sass into that last sentence Tris can't help but laugh.

"What?" Christina says indignantly.

"Nothing it's just, I remember thinking that and that's exactly how it sounded." Tris says, slightly embarrassed at her outburst. Christina chuckles as well before going back to the book.

**The test administrators are mostly Abnegation volunteers, although there is an Erudite in one of the testing rooms and a Dauntless in another to test those of us from Abnegation, because the rules state that we can't be tested by someone from our own faction. The rules also say that we can't prepare for the test in any way, so I don't know what to expect. My gaze drifts from Susan to the Dauntless tables across the room.**

"Stalker!" Uriah says loudly, pointing an accusing finger at Tris, who chuckles and blushes lightly. She couldn't help it if they interested her!

**They are laughing and shouting and playing cards. At another set of tables, the Erudite chatter over books and newspapers, in constant pursuit of knowledge. A group of Amity girls in yellow and red sit in a circle on the cafeteria floor, playing some kind of hand-slapping game involving a rhyming song. Every few minutes I hear a chorus of laughter from them as someone is eliminated and has to sit in the center of the circle. At the table next to them,** **Candor boys make wide gestures with their hands. They appear to be arguing about something, but it must not be serious, because some of them are still smiling. At the Abnegation table, we sit quietly and wait.**

"You sound so bland after all the stuff you said with the descriptive words and then, _at the abnegation table, we sit quietly and wait._" Will laughs to himself. The Dauntless initiates join in until Four clears his throat loudly. Christina begins to read again.

**Faction customs dictate even idle behavior and supersede individual preference. I doubt all the Erudite want to study all the time, or that every Candor enjoys a lively debate, but they can't defy the norms of their factions any more than I can.**

Four nods slightly, agreeing with Tris. It was kind of strange that, no matter what you actually liked, you did what everyone else in your faction was doing.

**Caleb's name is called in the next group. He moves confidently toward the exit. I don't need to wish him luck or assure him that he shouldn't be nervous. He knows where he belongs, and as far as I know, he always has.**

"Well, now you know where you belong too." Christina tells Tris confidently. Tris tilts her head slightly.

"Where is that?" she asks curiously. She wanted to hear someone else's view of where she should be.

"With us." Christina answers easily. Will and Al both nod. Tris smiles widely at them and Christina goes back to the book. Four can't help but feel a little jealous, once again.

**My earliest memory of him is from when we were four years old. He scolded me for not giving my jump rope to a little girl on the playground who didn't have anything to play with. He doesn't lecture me often anymore, but I have his look of disapproval memorized. I have tried to explain to him that my instincts are not the same as his—it didn't even enter my mind to give my seat to the Candor man on the bus—but he doesn't understand. "Just do what you're supposed to," he always says. It is that easy for him. It should be that easy for me.**

"I don't think it should. Everyone is different, unique. If it is easy for him, then whatever, good job, I guess, but you have your own strengths. Like thinking stuff through and not being a coward like Peter."

**My stomach wrenches. I close my eyes and keep them closed until ten minutes later, when Caleb sits down again. He is plaster-pale. He pushes his palms along his legs like I do when I wipe off sweat, and when he brings them back, his fingers shake. I open my mouth to ask him something, but the words don't come. I am not allowed to ask him about his results, and he is not allowed to tell me. An Abnegation volunteer speaks the next round of names. Two from Dauntless, two from Erudite, two from Amity, two from Candor, and then: "From Abnegation: Susan Black and Beatrice Prior." I get up because I'm supposed to, but if it were up to me, I would stay in my seat for the rest of time.**

"That sounds uncomfortable." Caleb chuckles. Christina glares at him, wanting to see what Tris's test was like. He raises his hands in submission and Christina rolls her eyes, going back to the book.

**I feel like there is a bubble in my chest that expands more by the second, threatening to break me apart from the inside. I follow Susan to the exit. The people I pass probably can't tell us apart. We wear the same clothes and we wear our blond hair the same way. The only difference is that Susan might not feel like she's going to throw up, and from what I can tell, her hands aren't shaking so hard she has to clutch the hem of her shirt to steady them. Waiting for us outside the cafeteria is a row of ten rooms. They are used only for the aptitude tests, so I have never been in one before. Unlike the other rooms in the school, they are separated, not by glass, but by mirrors. I watch myself, pale and terrified, walking toward one of the doors. Susan grins nervously at me as she walks into room 5, and I walk into room 6, where a Dauntless woman waits for me. She is not as severe-looking as the young Dauntless I have seen.**

"Well I should hope not." Tori laughs. Uriah frowns indignantly and Marlene chuckles, kissing his cheek. He blushes and Zeke coos, pinching his cheek and saying how grown up he was. Uriah slaps his hand away and Christina glares at them before finding her place _again_.

**She has small, dark, angular eyes and wears a black blazer—like a man's suit—and jeans. It is only when she turns to close the door that I see a tattoo on the back of her neck, a black-and-white hawk with a red eye. If I didn't feel like my heart had migrated to my throat, I would ask her what it signifies. It must signify something.**

"Why?" Caleb interrupts again. Christina grinds her teeth and slaps the back of his head.

"Stop it!" she growls, leaning back and opening the book again.

**Mirrors cover the inner walls of the room. I can see my reflection from all angles: the gray fabric obscuring the shape of my back, my long neck, my knobby-knuckled hands, red with a blood blush. The ceiling glows white with light. In the center of the room is a reclined chair, like a dentist's, with a machine next to it. It looks like a place where terrible things happen.**

"**Don't worry," the woman says, "it doesn't hurt."**

**Her hair is black and straight, but in the light I see that it is streaked with gray.**

"Thanks, Tris." Tori says blandly. Christina allows this but an annoyed huff comes from her general area and everyone quiets down again.

"**Have a seat and get comfortable," she says. "My name is Tori." Clumsily I sit in the chair and recline, putting my head on the headrest. The lights hurt my eyes. Tori busies herself with the machine on my right. I try to focus on her and not on the wires in her hands.**

"**Why the hawk?" I blurt out as she attaches an electrode to my forehead.**

Andrew looks at his daughter in disapproval, though she doesn't seem to notice, or if she does she doesn't care.

"**Never met a curious Abnegation before," she says, raising her eyebrows at me.**

**I shiver, and goose bumps appear on my arms. My curiosity is a mistake, a betrayal of Abnegation values.**

No one really knew what to say to that. It seemed wrong to say that a part of your personality was a mistake, but no one really knew how to express their feelings on the girl's thoughts.

**Humming a little, she presses another electrode to my forehead and explains, "In some parts of the ancient world, the hawk symbolized the sun. Back when I got this, I figured if I always had the sun on me, I wouldn't be afraid of the dark." I try to stop myself from asking another question, but I can't help it. "You're afraid of the dark?"**

"**I was afraid of the dark," she corrects me. She presses the next electrode to her own forehead, and attaches a wire to it. She shrugs. "Now it reminds me of the fear I've overcome." She stands behind me. I squeeze the armrests so tightly the redness pulls away from my knuckles. She tugs wires toward her, attaching them to me, to her, to the machine behind her. Then she passes me a vial of clear liquid.**

"**Drink this," she says.**

"**What is it?" My throat feels swollen. I swallow hard. "What's going to happen?"**

"So many questions." Tori grumbles, remembering how flustered she had felt when Tris had asked her anything at all. She hadn't been expecting it, that was for sure.

"**Can't tell you that. Just trust me." I press air from my lungs and tip the contents of the vial into my mouth. My eyes close. When they open, an instant has passed, but I am somewhere else. I stand in the school cafeteria again, but all the long tables are empty, and I see through the glass walls that it's snowing. On the table in front of me are two baskets. In one is a hunk of cheese, and in the other, a knife the length of my forearm. Behind me, a woman's voice says, "Choose."**

"**Why?" I ask.**

"Seriously?" Caleb asks.

"How on earth did you get dauntless?" Will asks curiously. Tris shifts uncomfortably. Christina takes this as a sign to save her friend and continue reading.

"**Choose," she repeats.**

**I look over my shoulder, but no one is there. I turn back to the baskets. "What will I do with them?"**

More curious looks.

"**Choose!" she yells. When she screams at me, my fear disappears and stubbornness replaces it. I scowl and cross my arms.**

"And here comes Stubborn Tris." Caleb sing-songs, causing his sister to glare at him.

"I'm not that stubborn." She says.

"That was a stubborn sentence." Caleb stokes the fire as Christina glares at them both. They finally quiet down and she gives them one last dirty look before going back to the book.

"**Have it your way," she says. The baskets disappear. I hear a door squeak and turn to see who it is. I see not a "who" but a "what": A dog with a pointed nose stands a few yards away from me. It crouches low and creeps toward me, its lips peeling back from its white teeth. A growl gurgles from deep in its throat, and I see why the cheese would have come in handy. Or the knife.**

"Funny how you considered the cheese would have been useful first. Maybe you didn't get dauntless." Peter sneers from his seat. He was completely alone, but still managed to have an air of intimidation, and leadership. Not the good kind, either. The kind like Eric. The '_listen to what I tell you or I'll decapitate you family_' kind of leadership. Tris shivered, though she knew he couldn't come close to her without getting a face-full of fist.

**But it's too late now. I think about running, but the dog will be faster than me. I can't wrestle it to the ground. My head pounds. I have to make a decision. If I can jump over one of the tables and use it as a shield—no, I am too short to jump over the tables, and not strong enough to tip one over. The dog snarls, and I can almost feel the sound vibrating in my skull. My biology textbook said that dogs can smell fear because of a chemical secreted by human glands in a state of duress, the same chemical a dog's prey secretes. Smelling fear leads them to attack. The dog inches toward me, its nails scraping the floor. I can't run. I can't fight. Instead I breathe in the smell of the dog's foul breath and try not to think about what it just ate.**

"Why?" Caleb is now just trying to lighten the mood by annoying Christina. It works, if only slightly, and he ends up with a bruised shoulder, the result of a pissed off girl with a book.

**There are no whites in its eyes, just a black gleam. What else do I know about dogs? I shouldn't look it in the eye. That's a sign of aggression. I remember asking my father for a pet dog when I was young and now, staring at the ground in front of the dog's paws, I can't remember why.**

A few chuckles go around the room, some nostalgic and some picturing a young Tris Prior asking for a dog, and then asking why when the answer was no.

**It comes closer, still growling. If staring into its eyes is a sign of aggression, what's a sign of submission? My breaths are loud but steady. I sink to my knees. The last thing I want to do is lie down on the ground in front of the dog—making its teeth level with my face—but it's the best option I have.**

"You make the situation sound so dire! It's just a simulation!" Caleb chuckles from his couch. Four glances at the boy worriedly. He sounded like a divergent in that one moment and that was dangerous in any faction, but more so in Erudite, and he could tell from the boy's clothes that was exactly where he was from.

**I stretch my legs out behind me and lean on my elbows. The dog creeps closer, and closer, until I feel its warm breath on my face. My arms are shaking. It barks in my ear, and I clench my teeth to keep from screaming. Something rough and wet touches my cheek. The dog's growling stops, and when I lift my head to look at it again, it is panting. It licked my face. I frown and sit on my heels. The dog props its paws up on my knees and licks my chin. I cringe, wiping the drool from my skin, and laugh.**

Christina cringes and makes a short squeal of disgust.

"**You're not such a vicious beast, huh?"**

**I get up slowly so I don't startle it, but it seems like a different animal than the one that faced me a few seconds ago. I stretch out a hand, carefully, so I can draw it back if I need to. The dog nudges my hand with its head. I am suddenly glad I didn't pick up the knife.**

"Well, I killed it, so I guess I missed out." Will laughs from his seat. Tris shrugs.

"It was only a few seconds before something ruined it, I'm sure your test was faster than mine, at least." She reasons. He nods thoughtfully.

"Maybe." he says finally. Christina jabs him in the ribs.

"Can I go now!" she snaps. He gestures for her to go on and she grinds her teeth, flipping the book open once again.

**I blink, and when my eyes open, a child stands across the room wearing a white dress. She stretches out both hands and squeals, "Puppy!" As she runs toward the dog at my side, I open my mouth to warn her, but I am too late.**

"Ah, I see what you mean now." He is smart enough not to say more as Christina readies her fist to knock out at least one of his teeth. She breaths deeply and a few people hear her count quietly to ten as she relaxes and goes back to the book.

**The dog turns. Instead of growling, it barks and snarls and snaps, and its muscles bunch up like coiled wire. About to pounce. I don't think, I just jump; I hurl my body on top of the dog, wrapping my arms around its thick neck. My head hits the ground. The dog is gone, and so is the little girl. Instead I am alone—in the testing room, now empty. I turn in a slow circle and can't see myself in any of the mirrors. I push the door open and walk into the hallway, but it isn't a hallway; it's a bus, and all the seats are taken. I stand in the aisle and hold on to a pole. Sitting near me is a man with a newspaper. I can't see his face over the top of the paper, but I can see his hands. They are scarred, like he was burned, and they clench around the paper like he wants to crumple it.**

"**Do you know this guy?" he asks. He taps the picture on the front page of the newspaper. The headline reads: "Brutal Murderer Finally Apprehended!" I stare at the word "murderer." It has been a long time since I last read that word, but even its shape fills me with dread. In the picture beneath the headline is a young man with a plain face and a beard. I feel like I do know him, though I don't remember how. And at the same time, I feel like it would be a bad idea to tell the man that.**

"**Well?" I hear anger in his voice. "Do you?" A bad idea—no, a very bad idea.**

"Probably." Caleb interrupts, once again. This time Christina kicks him in the shin and calmly continues as he gasps and holds his 'wound'.

**My heart pounds and I clutch the pole to keep my hands from shaking, from giving me away. If I tell him I know the man from the article, something awful will happen to me. But I can convince him that I don't. I can clear my throat and shrug my shoulders—but that would be a lie. I clear my throat.**

"**Do you?" he repeats.**

**I shrug my shoulders.**

"**Well?"**

**A shudder goes through me. My fear is irrational; this is just a test, it isn't real.**

"That's what I'm saying!" Caleb manage to speak up, again, and Christina sighs slowly, before kicking him straight in the crotch. He whimpers and finally nods.

"Point taken. I'll stop for the rest of the chapter." He wheezes and Christina nods and snaps the book open once again.

"**Nope," I say, my voice casual. "No idea who he is." He stands, and finally I see his face. He wears dark sunglasses and his mouth is bent into a snarl. His cheek is rippled with scars, like his hands. He leans close to my face. His breath smells like cigarettes. Not real, I remind myself. Not real.**

Caleb nods in approval but ducks his head when Christina looks at him.

"**You're lying," he says. "You're lying!"**

"**I am not."**

"**I can see it in your eyes."**

**I pull myself up straighter. "You can't."**

"**If you know him," he says in a low voice, "you could save me. You could save me!" I narrow my eyes.**

"**Well," I say. I set my jaw. "I don't."**

"An ominous end to an ominous-ish chapter, I'd say! Where's the food?" Will stands up, stretching slightly as he drapes an arm over Hatter's shoulder. She rolls her eyes but a smile tugs at her lips.

"Follow me."


	3. Chapter 3

Hello people! This story is now up for adoption! Just email me at .4561 to adopt it. Don't worry, if no one adopts it I'll continue working on it, but I have some ideas for new stories I'd like to try out.


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